Some in law enforcement look forward to arresting scofflaws during the Great Texas Warrant Roundup as if it were spring break. It just so happens the two coincide this year.

“I’ve been doing it for a while, and I enjoy it,” said Weldon Paul, who works in the Dallas city marshal’s office.

Unlike spring break, however, the March roundup is a chance for people to take responsibility for their actions, specifically their unresolved traffic citations and other low-level violations. Otherwise they could face jail time.

“We’re adults, and we have responsibilities,” Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez said. “We’re here to help you accept that responsibility.”

Caldwell was eligible for parole in May 2014, according to Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles spokesman Raymond Estrada.

Why so quickly after a 60-year sentence?

“He was required to serve one-fourth (15 years) of his 60 year sentence before being considered for parole; including good time, flat time and work time, he had accumulated over 16 years,” Estrada said.

In real time, he was in county jail and state prison for six-and-a-half years.

But, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark, for every 30 days Caldwell served in “flat time” (real time), he was eligible for 30 days of good time and 15 days of work time. So, essentially, he could get credit for 75 days for every 30 days he spent behind bars.

Caldwell’s records also show he participated in one or more vocational programs while in prison. He also had no major disciplinary record in custody. Parole officials determined his time served justified the crimes of which he was convicted.

Caldwell declined a jail house interview Tuesday, and his attorney has not returned calls for comment.

Original post, Feb. 16: The man suspected in dozens of evening break-ins in North Texas homes committed hundreds more years ago, police say.

Corey Lee Caldwell, 42, was arrested in 2007 for burglaries in Duncanville and DeSoto. The description of the crimes is almost exactly the same: he broke in between 6 and 9 p.m. through the back of houses, went to the bedroom and sought jewelry.

This time, police say he targeted homes on the north side of the Trinity River. Caldwell is suspected in dozens of burglaries in Plano, Allen and Far North Dallas. He was arrested Friday after authorities conducting surveillance on him say they watched him try to break into several Coppell homes.

Police said in court documents that they used infrared and a helicopter to follow Caldwell as he went from home to home at approximately 6 p.m.

Officers surrounded one of the homes and caught him there. He had a screwdriver, a flashlight, gloves, a ski mask, a cellphone and stolen jewelry on him, police say. Police say he used the screwdriver to pry his way into homes.

Caldwell is being charged with three counts of burglary — one for each of the homes police say they watched him break into.

Back in 2007, Caldwell was accused of more than 200 burglaries in southern Dallas County. He had escaped custody in 2006. Authorities said he walked away from a holding area at the Dallas County courthouse. He was being held on a probation violation.

While he was on the run, he told The Dallas Morning News in 2007 that he was “barely eating,” was innocent of the charges and had been in financial trouble.

In 2010, he was sentenced to 60 years in state prison. Dallas County dropped a charge for engaging in organized criminal activity after the sentencing in a separate case. But for reasons that were unclear Monday, he served four years and was released last year.

Caldwell, who is in Dallas County jail in lieu of $300,000 bail, has a history of property crime arrests dating back to 1994.

Courthouse Conversations is an ongoing series featuring the diverse stories and faces of the Dallas County courts buildings. We ask questions about the criminal justice system. They answer in their own words. Interviews are often condensed and edited for clarity. Today’s installment is with Vesta Armstrong of H.L. Harper & Associates, an attorney who specializes in family and criminal law.

What brings you to the Frank Crowley criminal courthouse today?

“I’m here because I have a client that’s on bond. She’s been accused of assault family violence and she is not guilty of that. I was able to procure a conditional dismissal from the DA. That means that she will have her case dismissed after she is referred to the Family Place for them to do an assessment.”

“Today is Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday as it’s commonly known. I am affiliated very strongly with New Orleans, and so in that tradition, their colors for Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold and everything I have on is purple, green and gold. I’m accented in that today to celebrate Mardi Gras. It’s just a festival of everything good that has happened and, of course, tomorrow is the first day of Lent, and at that point we will start to reflect more about what we need to do to change in our lives. So today, I am being very festive. I have Mardi Gras beads in my hair, I have Mardi Gras beads on my neck, I have on a gold scarf and a purple scarf with sequins.”

Speaking of reflecting about what we need to do to change, what is the biggest problem facing the criminal justice system today?

“Disparity in punishment. You may have one person who is convicted of a crime and they only receive two years of jail time. Another person will not receive any jail time at all, and another person will receive 20 years. There is a huge disparity, based on a number of reasons, primarily economic reasons of the defendant.”

What would you do to change that?

“If you have people with similar facts, they should receive similar sentences. It would be wonderful if there was a think tank of judges, if they could get together and come up with a system to narrow it (the punishment range) down better than it is now. There is just a lot of discretion right now … If you have one person and they’re a battered wife and they receive two years jail time, another person who is also a battered wife and they receive 20, that’s a problem. So I would like the facts to actually match up with the sentencing.”

Dallas sheriff’s deputies are investigating who broadcast two “shots fired” messages this morning on the department’s dispatch channel.

“Shots fired at JJAEP. … Please come,” someone said in the first message at 8:15 a.m., followed four minutes later by “Shots fired at JJAEP. … Send backup.”

Sheriff’s deputies quickly locked down the Dallas County Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program school in the 1600 block of Terre Colony in West Dallas. But they found no one hurt and no indication there had been a shooting.

Reyna said the origin of the radio broadcast remains under investigation. He said it would be difficult to patch into the department’s broadcast channel and that it may be a case of a radio left unattended radio.

As she reported, Price has over the past decade been involved in a complex series of land transactions that authorities say were intended to earn him profits that he hid from the government.

Most of the properties were allegedly purchased on Price’s behalf by “straw buyers,” which allowed him to conceal his income and assets.

One is a South Dallas building that’s rented to a hair salon. Others are vacant lots, such as one on LBJ Freeway at Interstate 30. There is also a vacant factory building near Canton.

Kathy Nealy, his political consultant and a co-defendant in the case, was a straw buyer for Price on some of the properties, officials say.

Dapheny Fain, Price’s top aide and a co-defendant, is also accused of being a straw buyer for him — on properties from South Dallas to Mesquite.

Price sold some of those parcels to a developer, but the FBI seized the profits as part of a forfeiture action that’s on hold in federal court.

Many of the properties factor into the corruption case against Price, a Democrat accused of taking bribes of more than $1 million in property, cash and cars to influence county contracts.

Ravkind wants to get appointed to the commissioner’s case. He said in September that he’s been working for Price for free and cannot afford to do so anymore.

But Dallas County deed records show that Price transferred three vacant commercial parcels to Ravkind in 2012, two days after federal prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture case against Price to keep money agents seized from him.

Price bought two of the properties, at 621 and 715 N. Marsalis Ave., in 2010 from William “Bill” Knox, a local lawyer who also writes bail bonds.

Price was a member of the Dallas County Bail Bond Board at the time.

Price bought the other property, at 619 N. Marsalis, in 2011.

All three commercial properties, located just minutes from downtown Dallas, together are appraised for tax purposes at more than $110,800. But the true market value for such properties is generally considered to be higher.

Ravkind has said the properties may have been deeded to him as payment for legal fees.

After recent shootings in which unarmed African American teens have been killed across the nation, the Lancaster ISD police department is holding a forum called “Project S.O.S” for students, parents and other community members to help them understand the role of law enforcement and related issues, such as how use of force works with police.

Other topics will include the role of law enforcement, the complaint process and the importance of voting. Forum speakers will include police, judges, attorneys and constables.

“We want to educate our students on what to do and what not to do when encountering law enforcement,” Lancaster ISD police Sgt. Alvin Johnson said in a release. He added, ”We want to shed light on the current events, discuss the impact on our students and community and try to ensure that these things will not happen in our community.”

The forum will be at 6 p.m. on Jan. 14 at the Lancaster High School auditorium, located at 200 E. Wintergreen Road.

Lancaster serves a predominately African American community. Nearly 80 percent of the district’s students are black.

“We hope this event will bridge the gap between our students and law enforcement and educate them on how we do our job,” Johnson said.

A woman who impersonated a nurse to get jobs caring for hospice patients in Dallas County for more than three years admitted Tuesday in federal court to committing fraud, records show.

Jada Necole Antoine, 33, of Little Elm, stole the identity of a registered nurse in order to get nursing jobs at eight different hospice companies from 2009 to 2012, federal authorities said.

She was responsible for the care of more than 160 patients at Heart to Heart Hospice of Texas and Odyssey Healthcare during that time, records show.

Antoine pleaded guilty to one count of fraud in connection with means of identification, court records show. She faces up to 15 years in federal prison. She is scheduled to be sentenced on March 16.

Antoine has been in custody since her arrest this summer in Georgia on a related criminal case filed in May in the Northern District of Texas, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

This is not Antoine’s only criminal trouble. She was given probation in 2011 for a family violence offense, records show. And she pleaded no contest in Dallas County last year to stealing a friend’s identity to buy a car, for which she was sentenced to jail time. Also last year, she was sentenced to seven months in prison in Tarrant County for fraud, records show.

She had applied to take the nursing exam in 2008 but was rejected because she claimed to have attended an online university that was not accredited, according to a Texas Board of Nursing publication.

Antoine, who has no medical license, stole the victim’s driver’s license, social security number and other identification to gain employment at Dallas County hospice companies, earning about $55,000 from her work at Heart to Heart and Odyssey.

“Antoine had direct responsibility for patient care in the field,” court records said.

About $2.3 million in hospice claims were submitted to Medicare for services Antoine performed while impersonating a nurse, court records show.

The other companies authorities said she worked for are: Community Hospice of Texas, Elysian Hospice, Hospice Pharmacy Solutions, New Century Hospice, Keystone Custom Care Hospice and Silverado Senior Living Hospice.

Time is now on the Dallas Police Department’s side when they’re filing felony cases.

State District Judge Rick Magnis signed an order Thursday that will now grant all Dallas County police agencies 10 business days after an inmate’s incarceration to file 33 types of felony case files.

The move, effective immediately, came months after Dallas police officials complained that the decades-old county time-limit policy was to blame — rather than just glitches with the department’s new records management system — for the premature release of more than 20 inmates.

The 10-day rule had previously been limited to 16 types of felonies, and police had to file all other cases within three days. The county’s judges, who set the policy, also changed the rule for other felonies, giving police five business days to file other cases instead of three.

The new additions to the 10-day list include charges for bond violations, burglary, family violence, kidnapping, stalking, simple assault, arson, attempted capital murder and unlawful restraint, among others.

Dallas police officials had asked the county’s judges, who set the policy, for the changes during a meeting in July after the inmates had been released a month after the records management system went live June 1. Some of those released had been accused of violent crimes.

Police faulted user error and kinks that needed to be worked out in the system for the cases not being filed in time. After days on the defensive, commanders quickly turned their fire toward the decades-old county policy.

The sudden shift in attention surprised the judges, who said they had never before heard complaints. Many said they would have happily changed the policy — if police officials had simply asked.

Officials actually asked for seven business days on the short end. They told the judges three days was far too short.

The judges unanimously went with five business days, which makes for a full week.

“One of the big issues they had was an officer makes an arrest on Wednesday, and he’s got Thursday and Friday off. That means he has to come in on a day off to do it,” said Magnis, the county’s presiding judge. “This alleviates that.”

The county’s policy was something of an anomaly among similarly sized Texas counties. It also reflected the unique relationship between the county holding facility and the Dallas Police Department. Harris County and Tarrant County won’t accept inmates until the cases have been filed — but some municipalities have other jails to hold their inmates until they go into the county system. Bexar and Collin counties give significantly more leeway.

Magnis had previously defended the short clock on Dallas officers, saying the government cannot hold people in jail if the police department can’t file a case in a timely manner. He said the policy is “what makes America, America.”